Individually and collectively we must demonstrate through responsible action that psychiatry is a profession worthy of the public trust.
Dr. Gibson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received his undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School (1948). He interned at Bryn Mawr Hospital in Pennsylvania (1948–49). He served his psychiatric residencies at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland; and the private mental hospital Chestnut Lodge in Rockville, Maryland. He remained at Chestnut Lodge as Clinical Administrator until 1960, at which time he also completed psychoanalytic training (1953–60). He has remained active in psychoanalytical organizations and in part-time practice.
In 1960, Dr. Gibson moved to the Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, as Director of Clinical Services, became Medical Director and CEO (1963–82), and President and CEO (1982–92). He served on the faculties of Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland Medical School, Towson State College in Maryland, and the Washington Psychoanalytical Institute. He has contributed to the psychiatric literature.
Dr. Gibson has been active in local and national organizations. He was President of the Maryland District Branch (1968), President of the National Association of Private Mental Hospitals (1971), President of the American Association of Psychiatric Administrators (1979), President of GAP (1979–81), and a Psychiatrist Fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives (1974).
Dr. Gibson has received numerous awards for his leadership and contributions to psychiatry and psychoanalysis, beginning in 1970 with the Strecker Award from the Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital and the Bowis Award of the American College of Psychiatrists (1980). On June 10, 1986, the Mayor of Baltimore declared that day to be Dr. Robert W. Gibson Day.
Dr. Gibson was Secretary (1972–75) and served as President of the American Psychiatric Association (1976–77).